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87-779: A calavera (Spanish – pronounced [kalaˈβeɾa] for "skull"), in the context of the Day of the Dead , is a representation of a human skull or skeleton. The term is often applied to edible or decorative skulls made (usually with molds) from either sugar (called Alfeñiques ) or clay, used in the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos ) and the Roman Catholic holiday All Souls' Day . Calavera can also refer to any artistic representations of skulls or skeletons, such as those in

174-796: A calaverita , a small gift of candies or money; they also ask passersby for it. This custom is similar to that of Halloween 's trick-or-treating in the United States, but without the component of mischief to homeowners if no treat is given. A distinctive literary form exists within this holiday where people write short poems in traditional rhyming verse , called calaveras literarias (lit. "literary skulls"), which are mocking, light-hearted epitaphs mostly dedicated to friends, classmates, co-workers, or family members (living or dead) but also to public or historical figures, describing interesting habits and attitudes, as well as comedic or absurd anecdotes that use death-related imagery which includes but

261-469: A Christian cross , statues or pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary , pictures of deceased relatives and other people, scores of candles, and an ofrenda . Traditionally, families spend some time around the altar, praying and telling anecdotes about the deceased. In some locations, celebrants wear shells on their clothing, so when they dance, the noise will wake up the dead; some will also dress up as

348-474: A bun, topped with sugar, and often decorated with bone-shaped pieces of the same pastry. Calaveras , or sugar skulls, display colorful designs to represent the vitality and individual personality of the departed. In addition to food, drinks are also important to the tradition of Day of the Dead. Historically, the main alcoholic drink was pulque ; today families will commonly drink the favorite beverage of their deceased ancestors. Other drinks associated with

435-514: A community altar, an Altar contest, a catrin/catrina contest, as well as lots of music, food, and vendors. Overall, San Diego is booming with colorful celebrations honoring ancestors across the county. In Italy , November 2 is All Souls' Day and is colloquially known as Day of the Dead or "Giorno dei Morti". While many regional nuances exist, celebrations generally consist of placing flowers at cemeteries and family burial sites and speaking to deceased relatives. Some traditions also include lighting

522-459: A contest takes places in order to give a prize to the best candy skull and to the best decorated business. Alfeñique is an Arabic word "alfainid”. This word was referred to the preparation of a pastry of cooked sugar stretched into very thin layers. The alfeñique came along with the Spanish and then the aztecs made figurines with amaranth for their altars. These were known as the first alfeñiques in

609-435: A criticism of Mexican upper-class women who imitated European fashions. It was first published posthumously in a broadside with a text (not by Posada) that mocked working-class vendors of chickpeas . Posada's image of a skeletal figure with a big hat decorated with two ostrich feathers and flowers was elaborated into a full scale figure by Mexican Muralist Diego Rivera in a fresco painted in 1946–47. Rivera's Catrina has

696-476: A family. Some Italians take it upon themselves to adopt centuries-old unclaimed bodies and give them offerings like money or jewelry as a way to ease their pain and ask for favors. Alfe%C3%B1ique fair The fair starts in the middle of October and lasts up to the beginning of November. Hundreds of people sell their wares at Los Portales, a series of arches surrounding the so-called place, where people can go and buy their own skulls for their altars. Every year

783-492: A holy water font, or under a cross in a cemetery, whereby it would be transformed into a memento mori. Regardless of its origin, the festivity has become a national symbol in Mexico and as such is taught in the nation's school system, typically asserting a native origin. It is also a school holiday nationwide. A number of Mexico City's museums and public spaces have played an important part in developing and promoting urban Day of

870-400: A long time. The process involves using molds to cast the calaveras . Production can be a lengthy process: a craftsman who creates elaborate calaveras might spend four to six months producing and decorating the skulls for a season. The most elaborately made sugar skulls are considered folk art , and are not meant to be consumed. The production process is more focused on the aesthetic appeal of

957-570: A manifestation of syncretism . The beginning of the Christian observance of Allhallowtide , including All Saints' Day and its vigil, as well as All Souls' Day, is observed on the same days in places like Spain and Southern Europe, and elsewhere in Christendom. Critics of the Native American origin claim that even though pre-Columbian Mexico had traditions that honored the dead, current depictions of

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1044-547: A national symbol in recent decades and it is taught in the nation's school system asserting a native origin. In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO . Views differ on whether the festivity has indigenous pre-Hispanic roots, whether it is a more modern adaptation of an existing European tradition, or a combination of both as

1131-519: A person dressed up as the deity offering gifts to poor children. In this context, the Day of the Dead began to be officially isolated from the Catholic Church by the leftist government of Lázaro Cárdenas motivated both by "indigenismo" and left-leaning anti-clericalism . Malvido herself goes as far as calling the festivity a "Cardenist invention" whereby the Catholic elements are removed and emphasis

1218-605: A prominent role in modern Day of the Dead observances in Mexico and elsewhere. The Catrina phenomenon has in fact gone beyond Day of the Dead, resulting in non-seasonal and even permanent "Catrinas", including COVID-19 masks, tattoos, permanently decorated cars, and Catrina-themed artworks. Some artists have even developed a sub-specialization in Catrina imagery. Theatrical presentations of Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla (1817–1893) are also traditional on this day. The traditions and activities that take place in celebration of

1305-404: A red candle or "lumino" on the window sills at sunset and laying out a table of food for deceased relatives who will come to visit. Like other Day of the Dead traditions around the world, Giorno dei Morti is a day dedicated to honoring the lives of those who have died. Additionally, it is a tradition that teaches children not to be afraid of death. In Sicily , families celebrate a long-held Day of

1392-423: A simple Tehuana dress and a feather boa, as well as other features that make allusions to the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Through the addition of these indigenous features, Rivera rehabilitated Catrina into a nationalist emblem. The Catrina character has become deeply associated with the Day of the Dead. Catrina figures made of a wide range of materials, as well as people with Catrina costumes, have come to play

1479-408: A special wicker basket of the dead called "cannistru dei morti" or "u cannistru", which typically consist of various sweets, small toys, boned-shaped almond flavored cookies called "ossa dei morti", sugar dolls called "pupi di zucchero", and fruit, vegetable, and ghoul shaped marzipan treats called " Frutta martorana ". The pupi di zucchero, thought to be an Arabic cultural import, are often found in

1566-665: A traditional two-day celebration culminating in a candlelight procession to the historic El Campo Santo Cemetery. The festival also was held annually at historic Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston 's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Sponsored by Forest Hills Educational Trust and the folkloric performance group La Piñata, the Day of the Dead festivities celebrated the cycle of life and death. People brought offerings of flowers, photos, mementos, and food for their departed loved ones, which they placed at an elaborately and colorfully decorated altar. A program of traditional music and dance also accompanied

1653-572: A wicker basket under the bed (the size varied according to the money there was in the family) that at night the dear dead would fill with sweets and gifts that we would find on the 2nd morning upon awakening. After a restless sleep we woke up at dawn to go hunting… Because the dead wanted to play with us, to give us fun, and therefore they didn't put the basket back where they had found it, but went to hide it carefully, we had to look for it… The toys were tin trains, wooden toy cars, rag dolls, wooden cubes that formed landscapes… On November 2nd we returned

1740-410: Is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember amusing events and anecdotes about the departed. It

1827-504: Is believed that the departed return home to enjoy the offerings on the altar. Some believe that they consume the essence of the food offerings, others believe they merely sense or savor them without consuming them. In pre-Columbian times, the images of skulls and skeletons were depicted in stone carvings (and sometimes in the form of real skulls) because bones were thought to be important repositories of life energies and power. The Spanish also used skulls as memento mori symbols. During

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1914-504: Is dedicated to adults."   He also notes that the same object, such as a stone skull carved by the Aztecs, would have different meanings in different religious contexts. For the Aztecs, bones—and skulls in particular—were reservoirs of enormous sacred power. A stone skull could evoke sacrifice, and the skull racks where the skulls of sacrificed captives were displayed. The Spanish could take an Aztec skull and repurpose it by placing it on

2001-471: Is laid on indigenous iconography, the focus on death and what Malvido considers to be the cultural invention according to which Mexicans venerate death. Gonzalez explains that Mexican nationalism developed diverse cultural expressions with a seal of tradition but which are essentially social constructs which eventually developed ancestral tones. One of these would be the Catholic Día de Muertos which, during

2088-480: Is not limited to cemeteries, skulls, or the grim reaper , all of this in situations where the dedicatee has an encounter with death itself. This custom originated in the 18th or 19th century after a newspaper published a poem narrating a dream of a cemetery in the future which included the words "and all of us were dead", and then proceeding to read the tombstones. Current newspapers dedicate calaveras literarias to public figures, with cartoons of skeletons in

2175-498: Is represented on this date both in Spain and in Mexico since the early 19th century due to its ghostly apparitions and cemetery scenes. Opposing views assert that despite the obvious European influence, there exists proof of pre-Columbian festivities that were very similar in spirit, with the Aztec people having at least six celebrations during the year that were very similar to Day of the Dead,

2262-410: Is the most famous figure associated with the Day of the Dead . During Day of the Dead, skulls and skeletons are created from many materials such as wood, sugar paste, nuts, chocolate, etc. When sugar skulls are purchased or given as gifts, the name of the deceased is often written with icing across the forehead of the skull on colored foil. Traditional production methods with molds have been used for

2349-403: Is then covered in banana leaves and steamed in an underground oven over the course of several hours. Once cooked, it is dug up and opened to eat. A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (in Spanish calavera ), which celebrants represent in masks , called calacas (colloquial term for skeleton), and foods such as chocolate or sugar skulls, which are inscribed with the name of

2436-510: Is widely observed in Mexico , where it largely developed, and is also observed in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage. The observance falls during the Christian period of Allhallowtide . Some argue that there are Indigenous Mexican or ancient Aztec influences that account for the custom, though others see it as a local expression of the Allhallowtide season that was brought to

2523-702: The Galería de la Raza , SomArts Cultural Center, Mission Cultural Center, de Young Museum and altars at Garfield Square by the Marigold Project. Oakland is home to Corazon Del Pueblo in the Fruitvale district. Corazon Del Pueblo has a shop offering handcrafted Mexican gifts and a museum devoted to Day of the Dead artifacts. Also, the Fruitvale district in Oakland serves as the hub of the Día de Muertos annual festival which occurs

2610-491: The New World . In colonial times, the nuns related the “alfeñique” as a traditional figurine for the months of October and November to celebrate Día de Muertos. There is also an annual Alfeñique fair in the city of Guanajuato . [REDACTED] Media related to Alfeñique fair at Wikimedia Commons This festival -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about culture in Mexico

2697-501: The Yucatán Peninsula , mukbil pollo ( píib chicken) is traditionally prepared on October 31 or November 1, and eaten by the family throughout the following days. It is similar to a big tamale, composed of masa and pork lard, and stuffed with pork, chicken, tomato, garlic, peppers, onions, epazote , achiote , and spices. Once stuffed, the mukbil pollo is bathed in kool sauce , made with meat broth, habanero chili, and corn masa. It

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2784-399: The "indigenous" narrative became hegemonic, the spirit of the festivity has far more in common with European traditions of Danse macabre and their allegories of life and death personified in the human skeleton to remind us the ephemeral nature of life. He also highlights that in the 19th-century press there was little mention of the Day of the Dead in the sense that we know it today. All there

2871-400: The 19th and 20th centuries, caricaturists, most eminently Manual Manilla and José Guadalupe Posada made influential calaveras, which were accompanied by satirical, rhymed commentaries. The most famous one was Posada's Catrina , who wears a big feathered hat. She was elaborated by Diego Rivera into a full figure with a long dress, and this figure has been reworked by many other artists. Catrina

2958-496: The 2015 James Bond film Spectre , the opening sequence features a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City. At the time, no such parade took place in Mexico City; one year later, due to the interest in the film and the government desire to promote the Mexican culture, the federal and local authorities decided to organize an actual Día de Muertos parade through Paseo de la Reforma and Centro Historico on October 29, 2016, which

3045-417: The 20th century, appropriated the elements of an ancient pagan rite. One key element of the re-developed festivity which appears during this time is La Calavera Catrina by Mexican lithographer José Guadalupe Posada . According to Gonzalez, while Posada is portrayed in current times as the "restorer" of Mexico's pre-Hispanic tradition, he was never interested in Native American culture or history. Posada

3132-455: The Day of the Dead are known as Literary calaveras , and are intended to humorously criticize the living while reminding them of their mortality. The important precedent for this development is the first illustrated paper that was published in Mexico. Called El Calavera , it began publishing in 1847, illustrated with a skull-faced figure, but the paper was quickly suppressed. An "offering" to President Benito Juarez illustrated with skull and bones

3219-503: The Day of the Dead are not universal, often varying from town to town. For example, in the town of Pátzcuaro on the Lago de Pátzcuaro in Michoacán , the tradition is very different if the deceased is a child rather than an adult. On November 1 of the year after a child's death, the godparents set a table in the parents' home with sweets, fruits, pan de muerto , a cross, a rosary (used to ask

3306-822: The Dead celebration that includes both traditional and political elements, such as altars to honor the victims of the Iraq War , highlighting the high casualty rate among Latino soldiers. An updated, intercultural version of the Day of the Dead is also evolving at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. There, in a mixture of Native Californian art, Mexican traditions and Hollywood hip, conventional altars are set up side by side with altars to Jayne Mansfield and Johnny Ramone . Colorful native dancers and music intermix with performance artists , while sly pranksters play on traditional themes. Similar traditional and intercultural updating of Mexican celebrations are held in San Francisco . For example,

3393-720: The Dead is more Catholic than indigenous because the Spanish tried to eradicate indigenous religions Moreover, as Stanley Brandes has argued, these skulls and skeletons have nine characteristics. They are: (1) ephemeral; (2) seasonal; (3) humorous; (4) secular; (5) commercial; (6) made for living people; (7) meant to be played with; (8) small and transportable; (9) made and consumed by an urban population. They are "lighthearted emblems of death." Thus they are not derived from sacred Mesoamerican traditions. Sugar skulls were not traditionally used on loved ones' ofrendas, though they are now. In Mexico, children who have died are celebrated on 1 November. Adults are thought to return on 2 November. It

3480-411: The Dead tradition called The Festival of the Dead or "Festa dei Morti". On the eve of November 1, La Festa di Ognissanti, or All Saints' Day , older family members act as the "defunti", or spirits of deceased family members, who sneak into the home and hide sweets and gifts for their young descendants to awake to. On the morning of November 2, children begin the day by hunting to find the gifts in shoes or

3567-636: The Dead traditions through altars and installations. These notable organizations include: Anahuacalli, The Frida Kahlo Museum, The Museum of Popular Cultures, The Dolores Olmedo Museum, The Museum of the First Printing Press, and The Cloister of Sor Juana. From turn of the millennium until the imposition of the James Bond-inspired parade, remarkable large-scale installations were created on the Zocalo, Mexico City's central square. During Día de Muertos,

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3654-562: The Dead. The most famous place to purchase sugar skulls and related confections (chocolate, marzipan, candied vegetables, etc.) is the Alfeñique fair in Toluca, which is near Mexico City. Some calaveras are produced to be edible. Most are cast as one piece from cane sugar, which can either be left unflavored or else flavored with vanilla. Some calaveras are also made from chocolate. The calaveras are typically colored with vegetable dyes. As with

3741-551: The Día de Muertos tradition being a continuity of ancient Aztec festivals celebrating death, as is most evident in the chapter "All Saints, Day of the Dead" of his 1950 book-length essay The Labyrinth of Solitude . Ruben C. Cordova emphasizes the zeal with which the Spanish attempted to extinguish indigenous religious beliefs and practices, such that it is often difficult to reconstruct their main features. Over time, indigenous converts became extremely devout Catholics. As Mexico modernized,

3828-489: The Mexican Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia ( INAH , or National Institute of Anthropology and History ) and founder of the institute's Taller de Estudios sobre la Muerte (Workshop of Studies on Death), was the first to do so in the context of her wider research into Mexican attitudes to death and disease across the centuries. Malvido completely discards a native or even syncretic origin arguing that

3915-732: The Oceanside Civic Center and Pier View Way, as well as events at the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia . In the more central area of San Diego, City Heights celebrates through a public festival in Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park that includes at least 35 altars, lowriders, and entertainment, all for free. Down in Chula Vista , they celebrate the tradition through a movie night at Third and Davidson streets where they will be screening "Coco." This movie night also consists of

4002-455: The Virgin Mary to pray for them), and candles. This is meant to celebrate the child's life, in respect and appreciation for the parents. There is also dancing with colorful costumes, often with skull-shaped masks and devil masks in the plaza or garden of the town. At midnight on November 2, the people light candles and ride winged boats called mariposas (butterflies) to Janitzio, an island in

4089-487: The celebrations tend to be mostly traditional. The All Souls Procession has been an annual event since 1990 in Tucson, Arizona . The event combines elements of traditional Day of the Dead celebrations with those of pagan harvest festivals. People wearing masks carry signs honoring the dead and an urn in which people can place slips of paper with prayers on them to be burned. Likewise, Old Town San Diego, California, annually hosts

4176-478: The celebrators eat the food after the festivities, they believe it lacks nutritional value. Pillows and blankets are left out so the deceased can rest after their long journey. In some parts of Mexico, such as the towns of Mixquic , Pátzcuaro and Janitzio , people spend all night beside the graves of their relatives. In many places, people have picnics at the grave site, as well. Some families build altars or small shrines in their homes; these sometimes feature

4263-419: The closest one being Quecholli , a celebration that honored Mixcóatl (the god of war) and was celebrated between October 20 and November 8. This celebration included elements such as the placement of altars with food (tamales) near the burying grounds of warriors to help them in their journey to the afterlife. Influential Mexican poet and Nobel prize laureate Octavio Paz strongly supported the syncretic view of

4350-460: The community event. The Jamaica Plain celebration was discontinued in 2011. The Smithsonian Institution , in collaboration with the University of Texas at El Paso and Second Life , have created a Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum and accompanying multimedia e-book: Día de los Muertos: Day of the Dead . The project's website contains some of the text and images which explain the origins of some of

4437-666: The creation of an event held at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center for the first time on November 1, 2015. In other communities, interactions between Mexican traditions and American culture are resulting in celebrations in which Mexican traditions are being extended to make artistic or sometimes political statements. For example, in Los Angeles, California , the Self Help Graphics & Art Mexican-American cultural center presents an annual Day of

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4524-574: The customary core practices related to the Day of the Dead, such as the background beliefs and the offrenda (the special altar commemorating one's deceased loved one). The Made For iTunes multimedia e-book version provides additional content, such as further details; additional photo galleries; pop-up profiles of influential Latino artists and cultural figures over the decades; and video clips of interviews with artists who make Día de Muertos -themed artwork, explanations and performances of Aztec and other traditional dances, an animation short that explains

4611-634: The customs to children, virtual poetry readings in English and Spanish. In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration celebrated the Día de Muertos . Santa Ana, California , is said to hold the "largest event in Southern California" honoring Día de Muertos , called the annual Noche de Altares , which began in 2002. The celebration of the Day of the Dead in Santa Ana has grown to two large events with

4698-632: The day found widespread through Italy. Ossa dei morti, suitably elongated and frosted "bones of the dead" are sweets found in Apulia and Sicily. In Sicily, families enjoy special day of the dead cakes and cookies that are made into symbolic shapes such as skulls and finger bones. The "sweets of the dead" are a marzipan treats called frutta martorana. On the night of November 1, Sicilian parents and grandparents traditionally buy Frutta di Martorana to gift to children on November 2. In addition to visiting their own family members, some people pay respects to those without

4785-412: The dead tradition, with various regional treats being used as offerings to the dead on their journey to the afterlife. In Tuscany and Milan the "pane dei morti" or "bread of the dead" is said to be the characteristic offering. In northern Apulia , a wheat growing region, a sweet dish for the Day of the Dead is Colva or "Grains of the Dead". Fave dei morti or "fava beans of the dead" are another dish for

4872-456: The dead: the ninth and tenth months, which were for children and adults, respectively. Cordova argues that some recollection of these festivals "was compressed down to two days and cryptically celebrated within the Catholic liturgical calendar", which is why, in Mexico, "unlike other Latin American countries with Day of the Dead traditions — All Saints' Day is dedicated to children, and All Souls' Day

4959-492: The deaths of various individuals. The act of painting a human face to resemble a skull, sometimes known as facepainting , "sugar skull" make-up, Catrina , or Calaca face paint, is not a traditional practice during Day of the Dead (except for Catrina impersonators). However, it has become popular in recent years, particularly in urban centers. Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( Spanish : Día de (los) Muertos )

5046-423: The deceased's favorite candies on the grave. Some families have ofrendas in homes, usually with foods such as candied pumpkin, pan de muerto ('bread of dead'), and sugar skulls ; and beverages such as atole . The ofrendas are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased. Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the "spiritual essence" of the ofrendas ' food, so though

5133-413: The deceased. During Day of the Dead festivities, food is both eaten by living people and given to the spirits of their departed ancestors as ofrendas ('offerings'). Tamales are one of the most common dishes prepared for this day for both purposes. Pan de muerto and calaveras are associated specifically with Day of the Dead. Pan de muerto is a type of sweet roll shaped like

5220-464: The departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased. The celebration is not solely focused on the dead, as it is also common to give gifts to friends such as candy sugar skulls, to share traditional pan de muerto with family and friends, and to write light-hearted and often irreverent verses in the form of mock epitaphs dedicated to living friends and acquaintances, a literary form known as calaveras literarias . In 2008,

5307-413: The festivity have more in common with European traditions of Danse macabre and their allegories of life and death personified in the human skeleton to remind of the ephemeral nature of life. Over the past decades, however, Mexican academia has increasingly questioned the validity of this assumption, even going as far as calling it a politically motivated fabrication. Historian Elsa Malvido, researcher for

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5394-440: The graves to thank the deceased for the gifts, before enjoying a hearty feast. The tradition holds that the spirits of the deceased will remain with the family to enjoy a day of feasting and merriment. Acclaimed Sicilian author Andrea Camilleri recounts his Giorno dei Morti experience as boy, as well as the negative cultural impact that WWII era American influence had on the long-held tradition. "Every Sicilian house where there

5481-547: The holiday are atole and champurrado , warm, thick, non-alcoholic masa drinks. Agua de Jamaica (water of hibiscus ) is a popular herbal tea made of the flowers and leaves of the Jamaican hibiscus plant ( Hibiscus sabdariffa ), known as flor de Jamaica in Mexico. It is served cold and quite sweet with a lot of ice. The ruby-red beverage is also known as hibiscus tea in English-speaking countries. In

5568-504: The house where someone in the household has died in the previous year. Many people of the surrounding areas arrive early to eat for free and enjoy the elaborate altars set up to receive the visitors. Another peculiar tradition involving children is La Danza de los Viejitos (the Dance of the Old Men) where boys and young men dressed like grandfathers crouch and jump in an energetic dance. In

5655-493: The ideology known as indigenismo became more and more closely linked to post-revolutionary official projects whereas Hispanismo was identified with conservative political stances. This exclusive nationalism began to displace all other cultural perspectives, to the point that in the 1930s the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl was officially promoted by the government as a substitute for the Spanish Three Kings tradition, with

5742-453: The last weekend of October. Here, a mix of several Mexican traditions come together with traditional Aztec dancers, regional Mexican music, and other Mexican artisans to celebrate the day. In San Diego, California , the city that borders Mexico, the celebrations range across the entire county. All the way up at the most northern part of the county, Oceanside celebrates their annual event which includes community and family altars built around

5829-626: The marigold is sometimes called Flor de Muerto ('Flower of Dead'). These flowers are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings. It is also believed the bright petals with a strong scent can guide the souls from cemeteries to their family homes. The common name in English, marigold, is derived from Mary's gold , a name first applied to a similar plant native to Europe, Calendula officinalis . Toys are brought for dead children ( los angelitos , or 'the little angels'), and bottles of tequila , mezcal or pulque or jars of atole for adults. Families will also offer trinkets or

5916-451: The middle of the lake where there is a cemetery, to honor and celebrate the lives of the dead there. In contrast, the town of Ocotepec , north of Cuernavaca in the State of Morelos , opens its doors to visitors in exchange for veladoras (small wax candles) to show respect for the recently deceased. In return the visitors receive tamales and atole . This is done only by the owners of

6003-452: The more decorative calaveras , these will sometimes have names written on the foreheads, as well. Calaveras may be eaten, or kept for a few days and then thrown away. Clay toy variations of calaveras also resemble the shape of human skulls. These toys are often painted a metallic silver color, but they may also be found in colors such as white, black, and red. Beaded eyes of many colors may also be added for decoration. Poetry written for

6090-411: The prints of José Guadalupe Posada , or to gifts or treats in relation to the Day of the Dead. Some widely known calaveras are created with cane sugar, decorated with items such as colored foil, icing, beads, and sometimes objects such as feathers. They range in multiple colors. Traditional methods for producing sugar skulls with molds have been in use for a long time, though the first known mention of

6177-416: The recipient on the forehead. Sugar skulls can be given as gifts to both the living and the dead. Other holiday foods include pan de muerto , a sweet egg bread made in various shapes from plain rounds to skulls, often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones. In some parts of the country, especially the larger cities, children in costumes roam the streets, knocking on people's doors for

6264-411: The region by the Spanish; the Day of the Dead has become a way to remember those forebears of Mexican culture. The Day of the Dead is largely seen as having a festive characteristic. Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using calaveras and marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl , building home altars called ofrendas with the favorite foods and beverages of

6351-473: The sale of skeletal figures dates to the 1740s. The sugar skulls were originally created as gifts, to be eaten by children. They are sometimes now used as offerings to be placed on altars known as ofrendas ("offerings") for Día de Muertos. It has been argued that the tradition has roots in indigenous celebrations, by groups including the Aztec , Mayan , and Toltec commemorations. However, what we now call Day of

6438-422: The shapes of folkloric characters who represent humanized versions of the souls of the dead. Eating the sugar dolls reflects the idea of the individual absorbing the dead and, in doing so, bringing the dead back to life within themselves on November 2. After gifts are shared and breakfast is enjoyed, the whole family will often visit the cemetery or burial site bearing flowers. They will light candles and play amongst

6525-402: The skull than on the taste or food safety of the product. Furthermore, many sugar skulls (calaveras) feature inedible decorations, such as beads, feathers, and foil. Some skulls are decorated with sombreros , although these designs are not as popular as they were in the 1970s. The calaveras are traditionally sold at outdoor market stalls beginning days or a couple of weeks before the Day of

6612-421: The style of the famous calaveras of José Guadalupe Posada , a Mexican illustrator. In modern Mexico, calaveras literarias are a staple of the holiday in many institutions and organizations, for example, in public schools, students are encouraged or required to write them as part of the language class. Posada's most famous print, La Calavera Catrina ("The Elegant Skull"), was likely intended as

6699-505: The tombs of the departed. Plans for the day are made throughout the year, including gathering the goods to be offered to the dead. During the three-day period families usually clean and decorate graves; most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with ofrendas (altars), which often include orange Mexican marigolds ( Tagetes erecta ) called cempasúchil (originally named cempōhualxōchitl , Nāhuatl for 'twenty flowers'). In modern Mexico

6786-615: The tradition can be fully traced to Medieval Europe. She highlights the existence of similar traditions on the same day, not just in Spain, but in the rest of Catholic Southern Europe and Latin America such as altars for the dead, sweets in the shape of skulls and bread in the shape of bones. Agustin Sanchez Gonzalez has a similar view in his article published in the INAH's bi-monthly journal Arqueología Mexicana . Gonzalez states that, even though

6873-451: The tradition is to build private altars ("ofrendas") containing the favorite foods and beverages, as well as photos and memorabilia, of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so the souls will hear the prayers and the words of the living directed to them. These altars are often placed at home or in public spaces such as schools and libraries, but it is also common for people to go to cemeteries to place these altars next to

6960-433: The tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO . Mexican academics are divided on whether the festivity has genuine indigenous pre-Hispanic roots or whether it is a 20th-century rebranded version of a Spanish tradition developed during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas to encourage Mexican nationalism through an "Aztec" identity. The festivity has become

7047-491: The traditional practices that the Spanish had brought to the Americas survived most robustly in rural and less affluent communities, which had high concentrations of indigenous and mestizo populations. Thus archaic Spanish religious practices in marginal areas came to be mistakenly regarded as the "pure" core of primarily "indigenous" Day of the Dead festivities. The Aztecs devoted two twenty-day months in their ritual calendar to

7134-595: The visit that the dead had paid us the day before: it was not a ritual, but an affectionate custom. Then, in 1943, with the American soldiers the Christmas tree arrived and slowly, year after year, the dead lost their way to the houses where they were waiting for them, happy and awake until the end, the children or the children of the children… Pity. We had lost the possibility of touching, materially, that thread that binds our personal history to that of those who had preceded us…" Food plays an important part of Italy's day of

7221-432: Was a little boy was populated with dead familiar to him. Not ghosts with white linzòlo and with the scrunch of chains, mind you, not those that are frightening, but such and as they were seen in the photographs exhibited in the living room, worn, the occasional half smile printed on the face, the good ironed dress in a workmanlike manner, they made no difference with the living. We Nicareddri, before going to bed, put

7308-462: Was attended by 250,000 people. This could be seen as an example of the pizza effect . The idea of a massive celebration was also popularized in the Disney Pixar movie Coco . In many communities in the United States with Mexican residents, Day of the Dead celebrations are very similar to those held in Mexico. In some of these communities, in states such as Texas , New Mexico , and Arizona ,

7395-603: Was predominantly interested in drawing scary images which are far closer to those of the European renaissance or the horrors painted by Francisco de Goya in the Spanish War of Independence against Napoleon than to the Mexica tzompantli . The recent trans-Atlantic connection can also be observed in the pervasive use of couplet in allegories of death and the play Don Juan Tenorio by 19th-century Spanish writer José Zorrilla which

7482-524: Was published in 1871. Today literary calaveras are given to family members and friends; published and illustrated versions satirize celebrities and famous organizations in the press. Literary calaveras flourished in the late 19th century, accompanied by drawings that satirized important politicians. Living personalities are depicted as skeletons, exhibiting recognizable traits, making them easily identifiable. Additionally, drawings of fictional dead personalities often contained text elements providing details of

7569-545: Was were long processions to cemeteries, sometimes ending with drunkenness. Elsa Malvido also points to the recent origin of the tradition of "velar" or staying up all night with the dead. It resulted from the Reform Laws under the presidency of Benito Juarez which forced family pantheons out of Churches and into civil cemeteries, requiring rich families to have servants guard family possessions displayed at altars. The historian Ricardo Pérez Montfort has further demonstrated how

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